CHAPTER ONE 



THE ROMAN 



COLUMBARIUM 



In a book so limited in size and scope as the 

 present volume, a learned disquisition on the 

 pigeon, on its place in former ages and in many- 

 lands, with an excursus on the subject of its 

 prehistoric ancestry, will hardly be expected, 

 and assuredly will not be given. We are con- 

 cerned chiefly with the dovecotes of England 

 and Scotland; and though some enthusiastic 

 owner of an ancient pigeon-house may claim 

 that it descends from Saxon times, it will 

 hardly be seriously disputed that the keeping 

 of pigeons in Great Britain, with the construc- 

 tion of dovecotes in which to house them, had 

 its beginning in, and came from, although in- 

 directly, Rome. A word or two on Roman 

 pigeon-keeping, then, will not be altogether 

 out of place; and happily our knowledge of the 

 subject has its bases soundly fixed on such re- 

 liable authorities as Pliny the Elder and Varro, 

 with some useful support from Columella. 



Pliny, after noticing the fidelity and com- 

 bativeness of the dove, reminds us that dur- 



3 



